Rejuvenated Phish dives deep into solo material for homecoming February 27, 2003 - Boston Globe By Steve Morse WORCESTER - It was a familiar sight, similar to the scene when Phish played on New Year's Eve at Madison Square Garden. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of ticketless Phishheads wandered in the cold around the Worcester Centrum Centre last night, desperately looking for any way in to see the New England homecoming of Vermont's most famous reunited band. Those who got in enjoyed another Phish-frenzied party, with fans in an immediate, ecstatic trance with opener ''You Enjoy Myself.'' It was a showcase groove song in which singer Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon hopped atop mini-trampolines and started bouncing in unison from front to back and side to side, as the music kept building and the song didn't end until a good 15 minutes later. Welcome to Phish, the 2003 model - same as the old model, but rejuvenated from taking two years off for individual solo projects and general battery recharging. The show was not as energetic as the New Year's soiree (how could it be, given the adrenalin of that night?), but it was excellent just the same. And a different one, at that, because for the first time on this comeback tour, Phish performed songs from all of the members' solo projects (and even Phish diehards were scratching their heads because they didn't know them all). These included the funky pulse of ''Clone'' (from Gordon's side project with folkie Leo Kottke), the kaleidoscopic ''Drifting'' (from Anastasio's solo CD), the surprise ''Blue Sky'' (from drummer Jon Fishman's Pork Tornado), and a serious, stump-the-crowd song, ''Final Flight,'' from keyboardist Page McConnell's Vida Blue band. Somehow, it all worked. A risky move, to be sure, but Phish fans enjoy a challenge and they got it. Besides, it's not something that Phish is going to try every night. All of these solo tunes came in the first set, which also featured the Grateful Dead-like chooglin' of ''Roggae,'' a well-received ''Moma Dance,'' and set-closing jam on ''Maze,'' with spectacular red, white, and blue strobe lights reflecting off the sold-out crowd as Anastasio reached for the heavens with his guitar crescendo s. The second set stormed out of the gate with ''Stash,'' ''Ghost,'' ''Makisupa Policeman,'' and ''Ya Mar,'' before presstime approached. It was already well after 11 o'clock and Phish was showing no signs of cutting this long-awaited homecoming short. Meanwhile, out in the hallway, Phish's nonprofit organization, the WaterWheel Foundation, was having a good night of its own, spreading the word from a large information booth. WaterWheel has donated more than $300,000 to 150 nonprofits across the country since it was created in 1997. Last night's recipient was the Joy of Music, a Worcester program that teaches young people how to play music. And they didn't even have to badger Phish for the attention. ''Phish found us on the Internet,'' said director Nancy Morton. Another nice touch from Phish. Copyright © 2003 Globe Newspapers